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Genesis Hosts Boy Scout Merit Badge Day Feb. 2

More than 100 Boy Scouts from throughout the region will have the opportunity to work on requirements for two merit badges with professional mentoring from doctors, nurses, paramedics, fire fighters and trained search and rescue teams.

The annual Merit Badge Day hosted by Genesis will be held Saturday, Feb. 2 from 8 a.m.- 5 p.m. at the Genesis Heart Institute, 1236 E. Rusholme St., Davenport.

Scouts will be able to complete most of the work for badges in First Aid and Search and Rescue in the one-day session.

"This is already a popular event among scouts and troops because they can complete nearly all of the requirements for the badges in one day,'' said Benjamin VanRallte, M.D., and organizer of the event. "It's also a popular event with health care professionals, police, fire and paramedics who volunteer.''

The merit badge clinics hosted by Genesis have trained more than 1,000 scouts in First Aid and Medicine merit badges.

The Search and Rescue merit badge, new to the event this year, was first offered to scouts in 2012. Requirements include learning about the hazards of search and rescue activities and how to mitigate those hazards; introduction to incident command systems; the use of mapping in search and rescue; and, search techniques.

Search and rescue teams and search and rescue dogs will be participating in the training.

Volunteers are needed to teach First Aid. Volunteers with map and GPS skills (1:24,000) are also needed. To volunteer, call Tereze Jeffrey, RN at 563-421-6535 or Dr. VanRaalte at 563-322-8877.

Scouts and scout troops can register for the event by calling the Illowa Council at 563-388-7233 or by going to www.illowabsa.org.###